Chileans stole our apples, say Kiwis

21 January 1999

Chileans stole our apples, say Kiwis

ENZA, the apple and pear board of New Zealand, has accused Chilean apple growers of stealing two new apple varieties.

A company spokesman said it had found 65,000 trees from the Pacific Rose and Southern Snap patented varieties growing in Chile.

The varieties are owned by Hort Research, the government research group that developed them, and Enza has worldwide commercial rights.

It is the second time an incident involving the new varieties has arisen.

In 1997 a visiting Chinese delegation was caught trying to smuggle out cuttings.

• Financial Times 21/01/99 page 40